Understanding teacher instructional change: the case of integrating NGSS and stewardship in professional development

The environmental education (EE) field has encountered persistent challenges in fostering the integration of EE practices in public schools, a challenge that may be addressed through integration of EE with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in the United States. In addition to the potential for fostering EE, the integration of EE and NGSS may provide a unique set of conditions for understanding how and why teachers shift their practice to incorporate more EE in their classrooms. Using a mixed methodology research design, this study examines the outcomes and processes of a professional development institute that integrated NGSS and student-driven environmental stewardship. This study provides evidence that integrating NGSS Science and Engineering Practices with stewardship may help infuse EE into classrooms. The research also contributes to theoretical understanding of the processes by which professional development shapes teacher change within an organizational context. Specifically, teacher instructional change was predicated on a shift in their beliefs that stewardship was possible in a standards and accountability-based educational context. The requisite shift in beliefs came about through the expectations and supportive resources provided by the professional development, teacher observation of student engagement, and the justification NGSS integration provided for stewardship activities.     

家族凝聚力与战略先动性

家族力量是否以及如何影响企业创业是当下家族企业研究亟需回答的问题。本研究从管家理论和代理理论的竞争性视角出发,把控制家族对企业创业影响的观察角度从家族涉入层次推进到家族关系层次,探讨家族凝聚力与战略先动性的关系及其作用机制。研究发现,凝聚力与企业先动性具有显著正向关系,组织规范和顾客导向在二者关系中起到中介作用。结论说明,"家和"可以成为创业的动力,为企业实践提供了有益的指导和可操作化的实现路径。     

Amenable performance management in higher education: integrating principles of agency and stewardship theories

ABSTRACT

The considerable transformation of higher education (HE), driven by the South African government's demand for accountability of resources for the attainment of its mandate has altered the ‘business’ of academia. In response to the financial austerity measures, performance management (PM) systems have been implemented in South African HE to monitor and enhance staff performance. This article conceptualizes PM in higher education using agency and stewardship theories. Data emanates from a phenomenological study of academic heads of department's (HOD) experiences of PM. There is evidence that agency theory may be an appropriate mechanism to achieve explicit accountability, and to monitor and enhance performance. However, it is fraught with problems within academic contexts. The findings demonstrate limitations of agency theory with regard to the stewardship of academics. Thus foregrounding the need for the retention of approaches underpinned by stewardship theory. This article thus makes a contribution in terms of providing a proposition for an analytical framework that integrates agency and stewardship theories in researching PM in HE. Central to this proposition is working within a continuum of these theories to mediate the apparent tension between control and collaboration/collegiality.     

Bursar Accounts,Payroll Deduction,and Debt Collection: A Three-Channel Approach to Lost Item Reimbursement

ABSTRACT

In 2003, Penn State Libraries implemented payroll deduction and collection agency programs to gain better control of accounts receivable. The author reports on the implementation processes and first year outcomes of the programs. She recommends careful consideration of several questions before implementing such measures.     

企业内部信任、经理人创新动力与能力关系研究

目前公司治理研究大多研究关注正式的控制和监督机制的作用,缺乏对信任这一非正式因素作用的关注。大股东与经理人间的信任关系相比正式的制度安排,更具灵活性,因为在管家理论视角下,它有利于促进双方长期导向的代理关系,有利于激发经理人发挥主观能动性去创新。然而,很少有研究探讨代理关系中信任机制如何影响经理人创新特征的形成。因此,本文从信任的情感和认知两个维度解释大股东与经理人之间的信任对后者创新动力和能力的影响过程与机理。通过对174个企业样本的实证分析,发现:两种信任方式对经理人的创新能力都有正向促进作用,但两者的作用方式存在差异;创新动力部分中介情感信任和创新能力两者间的关系。文章最后讨论了这些结论的理论和实践价值,并给出了未来研究的方向。